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NVTC Hosts First-Ever Cybersecurity Summit

On November 2-3, NVTC hosted the inaugural Capital Cybersecurity Summit at The Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner. With over 400 attendees, remarks by Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, Virginia Senator Mark Warner, Northrop Grumman Mission Systems’ President Kathy Warden and RSA President Amit Yoran, panel sessions led by cybersecurity experts from the public, private and academic sectors, and a top technology showcase, the Summit highlighted the Greater Washington region’s unique set of cybersecurity assets.

The Summit kicked off on Nov. 2 with an evening reception, which included opening remarks by Gov. Terry McAuliffe. In addressing the audience, Gov. McAuliffe stressed the importance of cybersecurity and a strong cyber workforce in driving the Virginia economy. He highlighted Virginia’s coordinated efforts to address cyber hiring shortfalls through education initiatives and partnerships with Virginia’s state universities.

From left: The Institute for Advanced Cybersecurity Training (INACT) Co-Founder Justin Vélez-Hagan, Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Northern Virginia Community College President Scott Ralls at the Capital Cybersecurity Summit evening reception on Nov. 2

The Nov. 3 Summit program was emceed by the Capital Cybersecurity Summit Steering Committee Chair John Hagan, managing director and co-head of Security, Defense and Government Services for Raymond James. Sen. Mark Warner provided welcome remarks to kick off the day, speaking to Virginia’s unmatched stance as a hub for cybersecurity innovation and education. Sen. Warner noted Virginia’s critical need to bolster its cybersecurity workforce and called for new national cybersecurity legislation, including national standards for data breach notifications.

After Sen. Warner’s remarks, there was a special video message from Northrup Grumman CEO Wes Bush, followed by keynote remarks by Northrop Grumman Corporate Vice President and President of Northrop Grumman’s Mission Systems Kathy Warden. Warden discussed the evolution of cybersecurity as the “Fifth Domain,” a fundamental element, permeating all aspects of our daily lives. She also stressed the critical need to fill cybersecurity positions in Virginia and the opportunities for public, private and academic sectors to partner together to find creative solutions to address these hiring shortages.

The morning program also included three panel sessions, Collaborating for Cyber Success, Force Multipliers to Cybersecurity and Investment Capital for Cyber. These sessions featured lively discussion from cybersecurity leaders from the private sector, top cyber incubators, universities and investors. For a full list of Summit panel topics and speakers, click here.

Amit Yoran, president of RSA, provided the program’s second keynote. Yoran reinforced the evolution of cybersecurity and the expansion of the cyber threat area into business and our daily lives. He stressed the need to develop new flexible, perimeter-less cybersecurity to meet growing threats from mobile and IoT expansion. Yoran explained that the Greater Washington region, with its unmatched research and expertise, is equipped to meet these new cyber demands. In fact, according to Yoran, the region has the potential to be “Security Valley.”

Attendees enjoyed lunch in the exhibit hall where they were able to network with many cybersecurity innovators and companies supporting the region’s cybersecurity industry

The second half of the day included six panels in two tracks addressing government and commercial cybersecurity, as well as a special closing session from Verizon that took a deep-dive look into the current cybersecurity threat landscape and highlighted cyber attack statistics in the Verizon 2016 Data Breach Investigations Report.

Throughout the upcoming weeks we will be sharing additional content from the Capital Cybersecurity Summit and its panels. Please stay tuned!

Media Inquiries

For all NVTC media inquiries, please contact the NVTC Director of Communications and Public Relations, at (703) 904-7878, or nvtc@nvtc.org.